Man who killed Japanese woman in Cheonan says he wanted to die together after stock losses

A man in his 30s who killed a Japanese woman in her 20s in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, has told police he decided to end his life after suffering stock investment losses and wanted to die together with the victim. Police are intensively examining the credibility of his account and the actual motive for the crime, noting that the two had met only three times.

According to the Cheonan Seobook Police Station on Saturday, the suspect, identified only as A, told investigators during questioning that he "decided to die after losing about 5 million won ($3,600) in stock investments" and "was too scared to die alone, so he tried to die together with B," a woman in her 20s with Japanese citizenship.

A is accused of stabbing B to death at an officetel in Dujeong-dong, Seobook-gu, Cheonan, at around 4:20 p.m. on Wednesday. After the killing, A left the scene and traveled more than 100 kilometers to Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, before being arrested by police in the early hours of the following morning.

Police have also confirmed indications that A attempted to take his own life. However, investigators have yet to determine why A chose B — someone he had met only three times — as the person he wanted to die with, or why A traveled to Jeonju immediately after the killing.

According to the investigation, the two first met in September and continued to see each other after B returned to South Korea in mid-October. The day of the killing was their third meeting, and the two were not in a romantic relationship. No records of stalking reports involving either person were found.

How the two came to know each other is also under investigation. A has given an account of how they met, but because B's mobile phone is locked, police say they cannot confirm the facts based on A's explanation alone. Investigators plan to use mobile phone forensics to establish the nature of the relationship and the circumstances surrounding the crime.

Japanese media outlets including NHK and Kyodo News have reported on the case. Some local online outlets in Japan have speculated that the two may have met through a language-exchange application, but police have not confirmed this.

No evidence of a sex crime has been found so far, and A has no prior convictions for sex offenses. The National Forensic Service has not yet released the results of a formal autopsy.

B's family has reportedly asked police, during a meeting, to seek severe punishment for A.

A appeared at a pre-detention hearing at the Cheonan branch of Daejeon District Court on Friday but announced he would waive the review and left the courtroom within two to three minutes.